Piezo-ceramic linear motors are a different kind of linear motor, based on non-magnetic principles.
The principle has been around for decades, but only recently have advances in materials science and breakthroughs in control technology enabled this exciting technology to be used in a wider range of applications, both industrial and research.

Their benefits in terms of speed, responsiveness, stability and size are remarkable, and they are enabling photonics applications from optical tweezers (where long-travel resonant piezomotor stages provide the nanoscale stability essential to the task) to semiconductor manufacturing (where the force and resolution of piezo walking motors help meet the challenges of Moore's Law) to cell phones (where their diminutive size and high speed are key).